How sweet is this... Joey's cousin, Lacey, has started the coolest tradition for Shepherd. She calls herself a gypsy soul and travels all over the place for her job and just in general. She started sending Shepherd a postcard from everywhere she goes. I told her she is making Shepherd quite the world traveler :)

We made this little video to tell her hi, and try and entice her to make her way back down to KY ;)

Since we all know whats important in life...the Final Rose...what do you all think?

Team Jef or Team Arie?

I like Jef because he seems like someone who is aware and thinks about what he is saying. I'm not even sure Emily is good enough for him. He seems like he would be with someone a little more hipster. And although it is growing on me, I cannot say I support his hair.

I like Arie too, but am just not too sure he's not a player. Really cute, on the road a lot...She will probably pick him.

I just hope out of those two, whichever one she doesn't pick is the next Bachelor. Sean is boring. Blah.

I may or may not have stalked Arie and Jef on Instagram. Stalking runs deep, what can I say. Neither of them follow Emily, in case you were wondering, but that may not be allowed by ABC, who knows.

I'm mildly embarrassed I actually am writing a post about this but I do love some Bachelor and all its spin offs.

On that note, anyone else excited for The Bachelor Pad? My all time favorite Bachelor ever... Reid is on it. I was am obsessed with him. Hopefully he doesn't act like a huge skank on the show and disappoint me!

On that note, I'm finished with my Bachelor talk. What do you all think??

Almost 2 months have gone by and Shepherd Nash is just perfect. I can't get enough of him.

I went back to work after 7 weeks. It could definitely be worse, but I have cried every day. The first day could more accurately be described as "wept." Joey took this week off work to stay home with him and I am so happy he gets him all to himself for awhile. Luckily, my office is a 3 minute drive from home so I get to go home for lunch and see him. I literally ache I miss him so much. I don't think I ever put him down while I was on maternity leave. That chair was the best purchase we ever made!

I do not take for granted that he is such a good baby. I am so thankful every single day for his health. I'm thankful he sleeps through the night (or he did, until I went back to work, but thats another story!) I'm thankful he is easily soothed. I'm thankful he is so darn cute!! Look at that precious face!!

He has started recognizing me and Joey and grinning when he sees us. It melts my heart.

I decided to try and teach him baby sign language. Its obviously really early, but couldn't hurt to get started. I want to teach him signs for: Mommy, Daddy, I Love You, Milk & More. Would your heart not just melt into a million pieces if he could sign "I love you"??

I don't think anything makes me happier than baby pajamas with the little feet. Extra points if the feet are an animal and there is something on the butt.

Well these are some of my favorite pictures taken of Shepherd this past month. Angel!!

Yep, our power was out which meant no air conditioning. So, my boys were camped out in the kitchen. For some reason the kitchen was the only room in the house with power. We couldn't figure out why, then I decided it was a breast milk storage miracle from God. If our fridge went out and I lost all of the frozen BM I worked so hard for I would have been real upset.

Even with all this, it was still Monday which meant one thing topped our priority list. We went to Joey's sister Caitlyn's apartment to watch The Bachelorette (Team Jef) and hope the air came back on while we were gone.

No such luck, so the three of us camped out in the kitchen with our fans.

I knew I wanted to exclusively breastfeed Shepherd. Before I had him, I obviously didn't know a lot about it, and I tend to be a little obsessive and a planner. So I read everything I could about breastfeeding, I attended a La Leche League meeting, I went to a class put on by the Health Department. In every prayer, I asked God to please let breastfeeding work out for us. I wanted to be as prepared as possible, because I have heard so much about women it didn't work for, and I didn't want that to be me. I knew I couldn't just assume it would fall into place. Maybe it would have, but I need to know ahead of time what to expect! I also knew breastfeeding would not be easy, and I mentally prepared myself for that. I told Joey that in the after weeks of having Shepherd, if it was hard, not to let me quit. I had it in my birth plan, that I wanted to hold Shepherd as soon as possible, so that I could begin breastfeeding. I also had it in my birth plan that none of the nurses were to give Shepherd a bottle or a pacifier.

It of course was not easy, but I expected that!

In the hospital, babies are expected to lose a little weight, but Shepherd lost too much. He was born at 6 lbs 10 oz, and got down to 5 lbs 13 oz. His doctor called him a "happy starver." He was acting just as happy as could be, but wasn't eating and I didn't realize it because he wasn't acting hungry. I felt terrible!

I did get to nurse Shepherd as soon as I was finished with the C-section, and during the hospital stay I nursed him every few hours. But, as I had never done it before, I didn't realize he wasn't latching on and wasn't feeding. The lactation consultant had me use a nipple guard to make it easier for him and that still wasn't working. I was devastated when his doctor said we needed to start making sure he got an ounce every 3 hours. I was pumping, but not getting enough milk because it hadn't come in yet, so this meant I had to supplement with formula. I of course wanted Shepherd to get the nourishment he needed, but I was so upset that it wasn't coming from me. We mixed the formula in with as much breast milk as I could pump out and were feeding that to him. At each feeding I would try to nurse him, but he just wouldn't nurse, so we would have to do a bottle. I was so upset! I cried and cried! I didn't understand...I knew it wouldn't be easy, and I didn't expect it to be, but I was doing everything I could to fix the problem and I didn't even know what the problem was.

I thought maybe my milk hadn't come in yet, but when I told the doctor how much I was pumping, she said that it definitely had come in. The good news at this point, was that I was pumping enough that we no longer had to use formula, and could give him breast milk in the bottles. This was about 5 days after we had him.

Now, this is what no one told me. If I had known this ahead of time, I would have been prepared and understood why Shepherd wasn't nursing:

My milk was in, but it was still transitioning from colostrum to breast milk. That made it thicker. I think Shepherd just couldn't get it out!

On Shepherd's 1 Week birthday, it all changed. Joey and I were both getting up for every feeding, because I needed his emotional support and help every time I tried getting Shepherd to latch on. It was about 4:30am and we were sitting in the nursery, trying to get him to latch on, but anticipating giving him a bottle. I held him up to nurse him, and he latched on and starting sucking! Neither of us even said anything because we didn't want to jinx it! Finally, after he kept nursing and it didn't appear to be a fluke, we were so excited! It was finally happening!

After he was full, I pumped out a little more. Joey compared the milk I had just pumped, with my milk in the fridge from the day before. You could see a huge difference. It was obvious that the milk from earlier was much thicker.

So, if I had known that it may take a little longer than expected for my milk to fully come in, I wouldn't have been so upset thinking why is it not working. Now Shepherd is a perfect little nurser. We still use the nipple guard, but I'm working on weaning him from it.

Breastfeeding Shepherd has been the most rewarding experience of my life. I love knowing that I am providing him with the most perfect nutrition, that has so many benefits for him and me. I love that I am literally the only person on Earth who can give that to him. I love the bonding it provides us. I love that every few hours I get him all to myself! The fact that it hasn't always been easy, but I pushed through and made it work makes it that much more rewarding.

If any other mommas out there have questions about breastfeeding or just need support, feel free to email me!